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AN ACCOUNT 







Centennial Celebrations 



AT PRINCETON. N. J. 



June 27th, 1876, and January 3d, 1877. f | \ 

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COMPILED BY REQUEST, 



Rev. WILLIAM C. ULYAT 






V- 



PRINCETON : 
The Press Phinting Office. 

1877. 
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Qass rH i 



AN ACCOUNT 



Centennial Celebrations 



AT PRINCETON. N. J, 



June 27th, 1876, and January 3d, 1877. 



COMPILED BY REQUEST, 



BV 1/ 

Rev. WILLIAM C. ULYAT. 




PRINCETON: 
The Press Pkinting Oppick. 

1877. 



■^ .^.^ 






4^ 



Centennial Celebrations 

AT PRINCETON. 



WARRANT FOR SUCH CELEBRATIONS. 

So many distinguished citizens of Princeton, and so many 
former students of the College, having taken a prominent part in 
the Revolution of 1776; and the battle fought here during that 
period being one of no inconsiderable influence on the destinies 
of our country, it seemed to our citizens of to-day eminently 
appropriate and desirable that we, who were in the enjoyment 
of the blessings our ancestors' self-sacrifices had helped to pro- 
duce, should, after the lapse of a century, when time had estab- 
lished, and history had recognized, the splendor and beneficence 
of their action, review our privileges and commemorate in some 
way these men and their deeds. So far as possible, therefore, 
it was ordered, through Centennial celebrations, that of the 
men of that trying period whose deeds had been so powerful a 
lever to lift our country into magnitude and well-being, there 
should be no forgotten graves, no blasted memories, no dim 
vision of the patriotic good will which they had shown. 

And as, in all ages and by all people, to awaken the dormant 
feeling of patriotism and kindle anew the fires of devotion to 
country has been esteemed a solemn duty, into this same line of 
thought and channel of action we ourselves seemed to be still 
further thrust, and to be shut up to the belief, for the time 
being, that no more honorable work could be pursued than to 
approach with reverence and gratitude those altars of the past, 
and there do obeisance. 

It were impossible, at this late day, to enumerate the names 
even, much less the deeds, of greater or lesser heroism, of all 
those of Princeton who took part in the Revolutionary struggle. 



Families do not generally, and we may say it, perhaps unhap- 
pily, perpetuate the exploits of their ancestors. Nor do com- 
munities, except in very striking instances. The dangers and 
sufferings undergone by the common soldier on the tented, per- 
haps untented field, on the march, and on the scene of carnage ; 
of the officer of high birth, wealth, luxury, and social position ; 
of the women at home toiling and agonizing, and of the children 
capable of appreciating the exposure and sacrifice of fathers, 
and brothers, lover and friend, lie very much in the world's 
unwritten history. It would not be our object, however, here 
to rehabilitate these, even were it possible, nor even to mention, 
at least in any detail, those men and deeds which have been 
rescued from the jaws of oblivious time, but only to give a few 
names and outline of things as a warrant for the commemoration 
that was held. Further mention of these will occur in the pro- 
gress of this narrative. While for a full exhibit, reference must 
be had to the larger and completer histories. 

In proposing a celebration our citizens felt that there were 
two Princeton men whose names were worthy of the first and of 
tenderest remembrance. They were signers of the Declaration 
of Independence. As members of the Provincial Congress, and 
afterwards as members of the Continental, these men exposed 
their property to confiscation, their families to penury, and their 
lives to the hangman. There was John Witherspoon, a Scotch- 
man by birth. President of the College, a philosopher, divine^ 
and learned man, whose mortal remains are with us in the 
cemetery. He sat in both the local and general Congresses. 
And under the immortal instrument of the Declaration, fore- 
runner and assurer of our liberties, stands his name. There was 
Richard Stockton, a native Princetonian, a large land-holder, 
graduate of the College, a lawyer, a gentleman of the olden 
time, a Christian elder of the First Presbyterian Church, whose 
mortal remains lie in the Quaker burying ground. He, too, 
was a signer. 

There were, likewise, graduates of the College, men who had 
their residence here for awhile, who imbibed the spirit of 
patriots, who did good service in the general cause both here 
and elsewhere, whose names were felt to be worthy of honor- 
able mention and loving remembrance. There was, for exam- 
ple, Benjamin Rush, son-in-law of Mr. Stockton, a surgeon in 



5 

the army, and afterwards a famous professor and practitioner in 
Philadelphia. There was Joseph Reed, who was guide to Wash- 
ington at the Battle of Princeton. He was an Adjutant Gen- 
eral in the army, and besides being a graduate of Princeton, 
had studied law here under Mr. Stockton. There, too, was 
Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, a grandson of Jonathan Dickin- 
son "SiergeSn?, first President of the College, and himself a 
lawyer in Princeton. Besides these were others alike worthy of 
remembrance. 

The undergraduates, also, of the College, during the war, 
who partook of the spirit of their honored President, Dr. With- 
erspoon ; the patriotic citizens of Princeton of that day ; the 
uses made of our town by both armies and by public bodies ; 
and above all, the battle of January 3d, 1877, planned and 
executed with so much skill and bravery that it became, as has 
often been said, and as is generally admitted, the turning point 
of a war which secured our present civil liberties.' — All these, 
it was felt, demanded of us careful, joyous and grateful remem- 
brance, to show ourselves worthy of our inheritance, and to 
animate us to still nobler endeavor. 

These are our apology, if any is needed, for the celebrations 
which were had ; and a narrative of what was done is the object 
of these brief memoirs. 



Celebration of June 27TH, 1876. 



PREPARATIONS FOR THE CELEBRATION, 

The credit of the initiation of this celebration, is due to the late 
James M. Macdonald, D. D., son of a General in the war of 
1 81 2, and for nearly a quarter of a century pastor of the First 
Presbyterian Church in Princeton. Both by descent and in 
name, — for he was named after one of our Presidents, James 
Madison, himself a graduate of Princeton, — he was an Ameri- 
can patriot. In public and in private, and on committees, and 
with the authorities of the College, and the Seminary, and with 
his townsmen, he was indefatigable in his labors to inaugurate 
the celebration. He lived to see it assured, but only so far. 
For ere its consummation he was numbered with the dead whom 
he would honor. Others, however, lived to carry on what he had 
begun. 

The first public step towards a realization of the project was 
taken by the Council of the Borough, At their regular monthly 
meeting, in January, 1876, in response to a petition presented 
by Dr. Macdonald, and seconded with a speech by Hon. Geo, 
O. Vanderbilt, who intimated that the State itself might be in- 
clined to aid with funds and take other part in the matter, they 
authorized the Mayor to call a mass meeting of citizens who 
should give expression to their views as to whether such a cele- 
bration should be had, and if so when, and whether, and how 
far they would sustain it. 

January 15th, the contemplated meeting of citizens was held, 
in Cook's Hall, at which the Mayor presided. Speeches were 
made by Dr. Macdonald, Professor Cameron, John F. Hage- 
man, Sr,, Hon, Geo, O, Vanderbilt and others. These ques- 
tions were especially agitated, whether the celebration should 
take place in June following, near the time of the birth both of 



the State and of the Nation, or in January ensuing, on the 
anniversary of the battle : also whether an attempt should be 
made to make it a State affair. It was decided that it should 
take in more than the battle, and that the State should be in- 
vited to participate, and that the celebration should be in June. 
At the close of the debate the following preamble and resolution 
which had been offered by Mr. Hageman, were passed : 

Whereas, in the opinion of this meeting, it is eminently proper 
and desirable that the Centennial Anniversary of our National 
Independence should be celebrated in Princeton, around which 
cluster many thrilling historic events and immortalized names, 
calculated to inspire the highest enthusiasm in such an object — 
a place whose central position and whose eminent citizens, then re- 
siding here, have made it a controling power in the politics of New 
Jersey in the Revolutionary period, and whose representatives 
in both the Provincial and Continental Congresses, and in Com- 
mittees and Constitutional Conventions, were pre-eminently dis- 
tinguished and efficient, two of them signing the Declaration of 
Independence ; the place where the Council of Safety held many 
if not most of their sessions, where the State government, underthe 
Republican Constitution, adopted July id, 1776, was organized 
under Governor Livingston, and held its first session, passing im- 
portant laws and giving to the State its Broad Seal ; the place 
where the first victorious battle of the Revolution was fought 
under General Washington in an open field contest, in which he 
routed the enemy, turning back the tide of war which had been 
checked at Trenton, and giving heart and hope to the country ; 
the place where both armies were successively quartered upon 
our people, occupying our college and church for barracks and 
stables, and preying upon our farmers * the place where, just 
before the close of the war, the Continental Congress and 
Government sat and held sessions in the College library, with 
Washington in attendance; and whereas, it is represented that 
our State contemplates holding a State celebration, and we 
wish respectfully to suggest whether any place is more central 
and better adapted than Princeton to unite the civil, the 
religious, the academic and the military elements of the 
people, all of which should be blended in such a celebration ; 
therefore. 
Resolved, That a committee of thirteen be appointed by the 
chairman. Mayor of the Borough, to designate the day and make 
arragements for such celebration, endeavoring first to secure the 
co-operation of the Common Council, and of the faculties of our 



8 

institutions ; and that before making definite arrangements, they 
shall cordially invite the Governor and Legislature of New Jersey 
to join with us and make it a State celebration worthy of the 
occasion. 

The following Committee of Thirteen was thereupon appointed 
by the Mayor : 

John F. Hageman, St., Chairman, Rev. Jas. M. Macdonald, D. D. 
Hon. Geo. O. Vanderbilt, Leavitt Howe, 

Leroy H. Anderson, Wm. C. Vandewater, 

Aaron L. Green, Wm. V. Scudder, 

Richard Runyan, Thomas A. Seger, 

Josiah W. Wright, J. Gordon Vandyke, 

Lyman S. Atwater. 

This Committee soon after their appointment commenced the 
work assigned them, choosing at their first meeting an Advisory 
Committee from gentlemen of the town, of which the follow- 
ing were members : 

Mayor, Francis S. Conover, Prof. Lyman H. Atwater, D. D. 
Prof. Henry C. Cameron, D. D. " John S. Schanck, LL. D. 

" W. Henry Green, D. D. Rev. George Sheldon, D. D. 
Rev. William C. Ulyat, Elisha Clarke, 

Henry E. Hale. 

As needed, the following Sub-Committees were appointed : 

1. To prepare a plan for a Celebration — Rev. James M. Mac- 
donald, D. D., Hon. George O. Vanderbilt, Rev. George 
Sheldon, D. D., Maj?©r Francis S. Conover, William C. Vande- 
water. 

2. To confer with the Borough Council — Richard Runyan, 
Josiah W. Wright, William C. Vandewater. 

3. To confer with the Faculties of the College and Seminary — 
Rev. James M. Macdonald, D. D. 

4. To confer with the State Authorities and the Executive 
Committee of the New Jersey Historical Society — Hon. John F. 
Hageman, Hon. George O. Vanderbilt, William C. Vandewater. 

5. On Ways and Means — Richard Runyan, Josiah W. Wright, 
William C. Vandewater. 

6. To lay a bill before the Legislature to legalize Taxation to 
defray the expenses of the Celebration — Mayor Francis S. Con- 



over, Rev. George Sheldon, D. D., Hon. George O. Vanderbilt, 
Leroy H. Anderson, Esq., Rev. William Harris. 

7. On Correspondence and Invitations — Mayor Francis S. 
Conover, Rev. George Sheldon, D. D., Rev. Lyman H. 
Atwater, D. D., Prof. Henry C. Cameron, Hon. George O. 
Vanderbilt. 

8. To select a place for the Exercises and provide a Tent — 
Rev. William Harris. Josiah W. Wright, Thomas A. Seger, 
Leavitt Howe, Joseph Priest. 

9. On Music — Richard Runyan, William C. Vandewater, 
Alexander Gray, John J. Stryker. 

10. On Odes and Songs — John F. Hageman, Jr., William J. 
Gibby, Rev. William C. Ulyat, Augustus Macdonald, George 
T. Emmons, Leroy H. Anderson. 

11. On Public Decorations — Ernst Sandoz, Joseph S. Schanck, 
Bayard Stockton, Cornelius A. Terhune, Charles S. Robinson. 

12. To designate and mark Historic places — Charles O. Hud- 
nut, Elisha Clarke, James L. Briner, John Murphy, William L. 
Hankins. 

13. To have charge of the firing of Guns' and ringing of 
Bells — Aaron L. Green, James Leggett, John H. Margerum, 
Capt. William V. Scudder, E. Carpenter. 

14. On a Collation — Edward Howe, Josiah W. Wright, 
Joseph H. Bruere, Capt. William V. Scudder. 

15. On a Monument to General Mercer — Capt. William V. 
Scudder, Thomas A. Seger, J. Gordon Vandyke. 

16. To provide an Orator — Rev. James M. Macdonald, D. D., 
Rev. George Sheldon, D. D. • 

17. To act as an Executive — Rev. Henry C. Cameron, D. D., 
William C. Vandewater, Josiah W. Wright, Joseph S. Schanck, 
Edward Howe, Hon. George O. Vanderbilt. 

18. To publish a History of the Celebration— Prof. Henry C. 
Cameron, D. D., Hon. George O. Vanderbilt, Rev. William 
C. Ulyat. 

In the midst of these preparations. Dr. Macdonald, who had 
hitherto been a leader, was unexpectedly called from us by 
death. At the first meeting after his death, the following 
minute was offered which was unanimously adopted : 

With deep sorrow the Centennial Committee record the death of 
their associate, the Rev. James M. Macdonald, D. D., which 



occurred in Princeton on the 19th ult. In an eminent sense, Dr. 
Macdonald was a Christian gentleman and patriot. Descended 
from a distinguished Revolutionary ancestry, and as a minister of 
religion occupying the place of one who signed the Declaration of 
Independence, he was keenly alive to the elevated and noble spirit 
which should mark and pervade our National Centennial. The 
suggestion of our proposed celebration, it is believed, originated 
with him. In all the measures in view of it, he bore the leading 
part. We greatly miss him. He died honored, beloved, lamented. 

Dr. Macdonald having taken so large an interest in the cele- 
bration had been appointed to preside on the occasion, and to 
deliver the Address of Welcome. He having deceased, Governor 
Bedle was now appointed to preside and Dr. Sheldon to deliver 
the Address. 

From time to time, the various sub-committees that had been 
appointed, reported progress. 

The final results reached by those whose labors do not appear 
elsewhere in this record may here be noticed. 

The committee charged with designating and marking historic 
places denoted, Morven, the residence of Mr. Stockton, which 
had been the headquarters of Cornwallis, Tusculum, the residence 
of Dr. Witherspoon, the graves of these men in their respective 
cemeteries, the battle field and especially the spot where Mercer 
was bayoneted and the room where he died, the Church and the 
College building, Nassau Hall, which were used for barracks by 
the Revolutionary soldiers of both parties, and the room where 
Congress and other public bodies held sessions. 

It was intended that the celebration should be not merely a 
local but a State one. Accordingly, the Committee on Corres- 
pondence and Invitations sent out invitations to the President 
of the United States and his Cabinet, to the General of the 
Army, William T. Sherman, to the Senators and Representatives 
of New Jersey in Congress, to the Governor of New Jersey and 
other officers of the State, to the ex-Governors living, to both 
houses of the Legislature, to the Judiciary, to the Historical 
Society of the State, to Rutgers College and Seminary, to the 
Washington Headquarters Association at Morristown, and to the 
Society of the Cincinnati. The letters of invitation besides 
the letter press, contained engravings of the coat of-arms of the 
State, a battle scene, Nassau Hall, and a fac-simile of the 
old Liberty Bell of 1776, in Independence Hall. 



II 

The Committee on Ways and Means reported Taxation as the 
only feasible way of securing funds to defray the necessary 
expenses — that the people of the Borough be asked to vote money 
for the purpose to the amount of ^1,500, at the Spring election ; 
and that the Legislature be asked to legalize the tax. The 
people did vote, when the time came, the asked for sum, by a 
handsome majority ; and the Legislature gave authority to the 
Council to impose the tax, otherwise forbidden. 

The Committees to confer with the faculties of the College 
and Seminary, the Borough Council, the State authorities, and 
the Executive Committee of the New Jersey Historical Society, 
were all successful in securing their desired co-operation. From 
the College authorities was obtained the permission to use their 
grounds, from the Council an order for a tax and a provision of 
police, from the State authorities a legal enactment authorizing 
taxation, a promise of their presence, and a large detachment of 
Military at the expense of the Government. The Historical 
Society commended the movement. 

The Committee charged with the matter of a monument to 
General Mercer, reported that owing to the stringency of the 
times, and the large amount needed for the immediate uses of 
the proposed celebration, it was advisable for the present at 
least, to abandon that part of the intended programme. 

In executing all the preparatory work for the celebration, in 
which the authorities, both of the Town and the College united, 
a large amount of time was consumed by committees, travel 
performed, correspondence conducted, and persuasive influence 
exerted. This was necessary to the success of the undertaking ; 
and the citizens who volunteered are worthy of all praise. To 
some of them, as Mayor Conover, who advanced out of his 
private means funds until such time as the tax could be collected, 
and opened his field for the dinner tent and soldiers, and Hon. 
George O. Vanderbilt, who was especially assiduous with the 
Legislature, Governor, and State authorities, and Dr. Sheldon, 
in his efforts to secure an orator, and Lyman S. Atwater, Esq., 
who acted a long time as Secretary of the Committee of Thirteen, 
special votes of thanks were given. The names too of Dr. 
Cameron, as Chairman of the Executive Committee and other- 
wise, John F. Hageman, Sr., Joseph S. Schanck, and William 
C. Vandewater, deserve special mention. 



Besides those named on the Main and Advisory Committees, 
the following gentlemen of the Town were called upon at various 
stages of the proceedings for their aid : — Rev. William Harris, 
Joseph Priest, Alexander Gray, J. J. Stryker, William J. Gibby, 
Augustus Macdonald, John F. Hageman, Jr., George T. Emmons, 
E. Sandoz, Joseph S. Schanck, Bayard Stockton, Cornelius 
A. Terhune, Charles S. Robinson, C. O. Hudnut, James L. 
Briner, John Murphy, William L. Hankins, Edward Howe, 
James Leggett, John H. Margerum, E. Carpenter, and Joseph 
H. Bruere. These received appointments to serve on Special 
Committees, and did more or less service. 

THE CELEBRATION. 

The day on which the celebration was to be had — Tuesday, 
June 27th — dawned auspiciously. It was hot and dusty, but no 
rain fell. It being Commencement week, the town was full of 
strangers, — friends of the college, many of whom, beside their 
interest in the Institution, had doubtless been attracted hither 
by the extra inducements offered by our Centennial Celebration. 
In the course of the morning, immense crowds flocked in from 
the country round about, and by railroad from a distance. 

The day found the preparations fully completed and the pro- 
grammes of the several committees were carried out almost to 
the letter. 

At sunrise a national salute of thirteen guns was fired, and the 
bells of the town were rung. 

In anticipation of the celebration a military company had 
been organized in Princeton at the beginning of the year. 
They styled themselves the Washington Continental Guards. 
They were handsomely uniformed in Continental style, well dis- 
ciplined, and on parade made a fine appearance. They num- 
bered in all forty-five men. Their officers were : 

Aaron L. Green, Captain, C. W. Lazolear, 4th Sergeant, 

V. Arnheiter,* ist Lieut., J. J. Stryker, 5th Sergeant, 

E. M. Allen, 2d Lieut., Wm. A. Duryee, Corporal, 

W. H. Hill, ist Sergeant, J. G. Stockton, Corporal, 

Jas. L. Briner, 2d Sergeant, E. M. Updyke, Corporal, 

Geo. Allen, 3d Sergeant, E. G. Fitzgerald, Corporal, 
F. Slayback, Ensign. 



13 

These were early on the street, and received our visiting mili- 
tary, and became their escort during the day. Their conduct 
generally was highly commendable. 

About 9 A. M. the military from abroad began to arrive. 
These consisted of two regiments, the ist from Newark, Colonel 
Wm. Allen, numbering about 600 men, and the 7th from Tren- 
ton, Colonel Angell, numbering about 400. These at the 
request of the Committee, had been sent here by Governor 
Bedle, who by virtue of his office was Commander-in-chief of 
the National Guard of New Jersey. They went through their 
drill on the front Campus of the College, paraded the streets 
and were reviewed toward the close of the day's exercises, by 
the Governor and his Staff. Each regiment was accompanied 
by its respective bands, and made a fine and inspiriting appear- 
ance. 

Among the distinguished visitors from abroad, during the day 
were Governor Joseph D. Bedle and his Staff, Adjutant Gen- 
eral Wm. S. Stryker, General J. Augustus Fay, Colonel John 
Vought, Colonel A. Q. Garretson, Colonel C. D. Hendrickson, 
Colonel B. W. Spencer, Colonel Wm. E. Hoy and Colonel G. 
M. Johnson. Besides these, of military rank, were Major Gen- 
eral Mott, Major General Sewell and General Lewis Perrine, Q. 
M. G. 

Of the civilians present might be distinguished Ex-Governors 
Daniel Haines, Marcus L. Ward and Joel Parker, Judge L. Q. 
C. Elmer; Senators W. J. Sewell, W. J. Magie, John Hill and 
Charles Moore ; Hon. James Chestnut, Ex-U. S. Senator ; Drs. 
John De Witt and D. D. Demarest, of Rutgers Theological 
Seminary ; General N. N. Halsted and P. S. Duryee, of Newark; 
John A. Stewart, Esq. and Rev. Cyrus Dickson, D. D,, of New 
York ; Rev. Dr. A. A. E. Taylor, President of Wooster Univer- 
sity, Ohio ; Judge J. T. Nixon, members of the General Assem- 
bly of N. J., and many others. 

EXERCISES AT THE STAND ON THE COLLEGE 
CAMPUS. 

At noon a procession of the military and of civilians was 
formed on Nassau street, and proceeded under the order of Col- 
onel A. M. Gumming, Marshal of the day, assisted by Major 
A. F. Allen, to the place appointed for the delivery of an 



14 

Address of Welcome and an Oration. The place was the South 
Campus, in the neighborhood of the historic cannon captured 
from the British in the Revolutionary war. 

After music by Petermann's Band, of Trenton, which had been 
engaged for the day, Prayer was offered by the Rev. James 
McCosh, D. D., LL. D., President of the College. 

Following the prayer, a choir consisting of nearly one hun- 
dred students of the College, and of others, sang Whittier's 
Centennial Hymn. 

Rev. George Sheldon, D. D., then, by appointment of the 
Committee, delivered the Address of Welcome. It was sub- 
stantially as follows : 

ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 

The citizens of Princeton have felt they could not suffer 
this memorable year to pass without at least a feeble expression 
of their gratitude to the God of their fathers, and to their 
fathers themselves for what they have done for us. 

To put honor on the memory of those wise and brave men, and 
to pass it down to a still later posterity with undiminished rever- 
ence and love, they have arranged the simple ceremonial of this 
day. It is made my pleasant duty to welcome you. You know 
you are always welcome to Princeton — but much more on an occa- 
sion like this, whether you come from homes more or less remote, 
in our own honored State, the home of patriots and statesmen — 
a State whose soil was the battle-field of the Revolution, a State 
that, in the measure of its population and means, did more in the 
country's cause than any other, or whether you come from other 
honored commonwealths of the original thirteen, or from those 
since carved out of our vast domain, and never dreamed of in 
the infancy of the Republic, but now component parts of our 
great and glorious Union, or whether, perchance, some of you are 
from far away and represent other nationalities — we welcome you. 

Princeton extends a warm welcome to the Chief Magistrate of 
our State and» those associated with him in the administration of 
our affairs ; to members of both Houses of the Legislature ; to 
the Judiciary of the State of New Jersey ; to the Trustees and 
other officers of Rutgers College and of the Theological Semi- 
nary connected with that venerable Institution ; to the officers 
and members of the various patriotic, literary and historical 



15 

societies represented here, and to the brave soldiers who honor 
us with their escort on this occasion. 

We welcome you to Princeton ; to Princeton full of patriotic 
memories and associations, where the very atmosphere bears the 
double inspiration of the past and the present ; to old historic 
Princeton, a hundred years ago as now, the seat of learning and 
religion, a hundred years ago, in the dark formative days of the 
Republic, the centre and source of patriotic counsel and valor. 

We are assembled on classic, sacred grounds. Memorials are 
all around us. 

Near by was fought the Battle of Princeton — in an important 
sense the turning point in the great struggle for the liberty of 
our people. Here the patriots had their first inspiration of suc- 
cess ; here Washington was exposed to greater personal peril 
than in any subsequent combat ; here the heroic Mercer fell, 
and has left his life-blood stains on the floor of the house (now 
standing) into which, mortally wounded, he was carried. 

This is the man of whom we are told, when the House of 
Burgesses, in Virginia, was considering the raising and officering 
of a third regiment, a plain but soldierly-looking man sent up 
to the Speaker a scrap of paper on which was written, " Hugh 
Mercer will serve his adopted country, and the cause of liberty, 
in any rank or station to which he may be appointed." 

Our town for some weeks had been in possession of British 
troops, who converted these Halls of learning, and the very 
Church of God near by us, into barracks and stables. 

The patriot forces coming up dislodged them, but the College 
edifice was left penetrated and scarred by shot. 

Here, before the war, the Committee of Safety, and our first 
State Legislature, met, and after the war, the Continental Con- 
gress, in quiet scenes of peace, when Washington was present on 
a Commencement occasion. 

Here lived Richard Stockton, who served his country when it 
cost something to do so. His estate was ravaged and despoiled, 
while he was dragged from his bed at night and put in the com- 
mon jail in New York, where he was treated with such barbarity 
as to hasten his death. Here, also, was Dr. John Witherspoon, 
President of the College, and pastor of the church in this town, 
scholar, patriot, divine. He fearlessly espoused the cause of his 
adopted country, and became the counsellor and guide of our 



i6 

people. To him, the great objective point was a free church in 
a free State. These two men, with John Hart, whose home was 
in this neighborhood, subscribed the immortal Declaration of 
Independence, the principles of which were vindicated and 
established on this continent through the battles of the Revo- 
lution. 

We come to honor the memory of these men, and of all those 
associated with them, from the highest in council to the hum- 
blest soldier and citizen. To honor them, and to trace the 
results that have for a hundred years flowed from their action, as 
touching free government, wise legislation, human liberty and 
human happiness, is the purpose of this celebration, as well as to 
consider by what means these blessings may be continued. 

" The place we tread is holy ground, 

Since that far winter morn, 
When out of storm and battle sound 

A mighty hope was born." 

At the close of this address, the large choir sang, to the air 
" La Marseillaise," the following Ode to Liberty, which had 
been specially prepared for the occasion by Rev. Charles W. 
Shields, D. D., a Professor in the College : 

ODE TO LIBERTY. 

O Liberty ! again thy story. 

Which oft before thy sons have told. 
The rolling cycles swell with glory, 

The story that can ne'er grow old : 
How Truth and Right have battl'd Error, 
How patriots rush'd to martyrs' graves, 
How freemen scorn'd the chains of slaves. 
And tyrants fell with rage and terror. 
Rejoice, O Liberty ! 

Take courage from the past : 
Press on ! press on ! till victory 
Shall crown thy brows at last. 

Lo ! on these western waters drifted, 

In flying bands across the main, 
A chosen race of heroes sifted, 



I? 

As from the chaff is thresh' d the grain : 
They come, the van of eastern sages ; 

'I'hey bear the richest spoils of Time, 

And hail the new, imperial clime 
Adorn'd of old for riper ages. 

Rejoice, O Liberty ! 

Hark I hark 1 what groans and shouts are blending 
New England calls with struggling breath ! 

Virginia's tongue of flame is sending 
The cry of " Liberty or Death !" 

While Jersey sees the war-clouds lower, 
Her face by hireling legions marr'd, 
Her dauntless brow with battles scarr'd, 

Till victory gleams on Nassau's tower. 
Rejoice, O Liberty ! 

Ah ! bitter, bitter and defiant 

The surges of the civic strife, 
Ere like a fuU-arm'd infant giant. 

The nation struggled into life ! 
And long, O long shall be recited, 

What glories shroud the fallen brave, 

How virtue blossoms from their grave,. 
In arts increased and states united. 
Rejoice, O Liberty ! 

Nor yet, O Liberty, is ended 

Thy march of glorious agony ; 
Not till all tongues and peoples blended 

At length acclaim, The world is free ! 
Not till one nation to another 

Around the globe shall roll the strain^ 

The West rejoin the East again, 
And man hail every man his brother. 
Rejoice, O Liberty ! 

O Liberty ! then be thy story 

Still, still with quenchless fervor told 
As rolling cycles swell its glory ; 



The story that can ne'er grow old, 
While yet the radiant face of Nature 
Is darken' d by a single slave, 
As long as Virtue claims the brave. 
And man has faith in his Creator. 
Rejoice, O Liberty ! 

Take courage from the past ; 
Press on ! press on ! till victory 
Shall crown thy brows at last ! 

His Excellency, Governor Joseph D. Bedle, the Presiding 
Officer, now introduced Rev. Joseph T. Duryea, D. D., of 
Brooklyn , N. Y. , the Orator of the day, a graduate of the College 
and Seminary, and connected with Princeton by other ties, who 
proceeded to give a very fervent, patriotic and interesting 
address. The following outline will afford some glimpses of 
what Dr. Duryea said : 

Countrymen and Friends : — The historian at the end of each 
century looks back, and gathers up those principles which have 
been the laws giving direction to its events, and ordering our 
metes and bounds. The fulfillment of the past does not termi- 
nate then. But instinct looks for some worthy fulfillment of 
such a period. We are doing this thing this year in the history 
of our country. 

We are not now to review events simply, or to celebrate an 
accident. We are here to see wisdom, thought, and intention 
in the past — a divine heart and mind even. It is the divine 
element and self-sacrifice, the self immolation of the wise and 
good that makes history sacred. We are not here atheists. If 
there be no God, no wise, controling, directing intelligence in 
the past, let us court oblivion of it rather than this remembrance. 
Let all the past be engulfed forever. Let us welcome the night- 
fall and not the dawn. Man came into being by the intention 
of God. God wished sympathy, and to be known and loved, 
and all the past is full of his intelligence, his thought in and 
for us. 

The signal events and things of this world are not oceans, 
prairies, and rivers, not material wealth, agriculture, mines and 
oil of the earth, nor railroads, telegraphs, &c. We are not 
here to celebrate such. The establishment of a nationality, the 



19 

multiplication of colonies in North America, the consolidation 
of these colonies into States, the development of national unity, 
the removal of the sin and burden of servile labor, these are the 
signal events in the past of our country. 

And what does all the past of development of our country 
mean; what is its worth to us? Does it mean for us coal, grain, 
silk, purple, mere material advance ? No. It is rather that we 
should recognize in these unfoldings the foundations of good 
for us, of our prosperity; and it becomes us to-day, above all 
things, to swear that these blessings shall be perpetual. What 
claim will you have on the generation of a hundred years to 
come ? what claim on their gratitude and veneration as those of 
a hundred years ago have on you to-day, if you do not conserve 
the good which you have inherited ? If we do not conserve it 
we shall have no memorial, and the generation to come will 
curse rather than bless us. Our first duty then, the lesson which 
we are to learn from this hour is to be true to the inheritance we 
have received, to the fathers which went before and to the sons 
which shall come after. 

We commonly labor under a misconception which is fatal to 
our well being. We believe we are in accord with truth. We 
have wills and know our freedom. We occupy each a sphere 
which we feel cannot be invaded. We further believe that gov- 
ernment is best which gives the individual the greatest scope. 
But we make a mistake when we think that such a government is 
necessarily self perpetuating. If our institutions are good we 
should work them. We must. This we have failed, through 
misconception, to do. A partisan spirit among us has been 
allowed such sway as to destroy individuality. We should stick 
to our party no longer than it represents principle. Let party 
perish when it deserts, or loses principle. The people should 
destroy it. Look at the government of New York City. There 
are good men enough in that city to wipe out the shame that is 
hers, through such men as Bill Tweed and Jim Fisk. But 
wealthy men and good men stand by and let hell rule and the 
devil inspire. We are a Republican government, say they ! 
And so let the wicked rule. After reading your Bible and pray- 
ing, GO VOTE : or you read and pray to little account. 

The educated and good must teach the common people. They 
are led by demagogues. The people of this hemisphere were 



nearly ruined in the late war through their ignorance of the 
absolute incompatibility of two governments existing in peace 
together on this continent. God carried us through, however. 
Mothers and school teachers should teach the principles and 
methods of our government, — rear the generation that is to 
come after them in love of country. We should labor to make 
them as loyal to it as the Catholic is to his church. Let there 
be but one motion back of the hand in Washington. 

Legislators and Judges must be held by us to strict account. 
If they make one misstep — if untrue to their country, banish- 
ment to its farthest frontiers should be made to be felt by them 
to be a blessing. 

Discharge of duty and conservation of the State depends on 
the characters we form and nourish. Can you do what your 
ancestors did ? And will you ? They wore homespun, went to 
the battlefield, dwelt in cottages ; all for truth, and the genera- 
tions to come. How dare you commemorate these virtues in 
your ancestors if you are not able, and ready, to imitate them. 
But what now has been our history for the last half century? 
One of luxurious indulgence, and hasting to be rich. We have 
encouraged emigration, to delve and sweat for us, that we may 
live in brown stone houses, sip our wine till midnight, and wake 
in the morning too beastly for citizenship. As our merchant 
princes drive out to Central Park, with their daughters, they 
pass a building, the object of which they dare not tell those 
daughters, for it is a building the most infamous outside of hell. 
They can give their money to support Moody and Sankey, but 
nothing to send Madame Restell to hell There are men who, 
through the characters they have formed, will sell their votes 
this coming Fall for a drink. I know it in the case of some of 
you, by the redness of your noses. There are some who cannot 
be bought — men of principle. What we want is a platform with 
men on it, not a platform without a man. There is one pattern 
for us all to follow, and that is Jesus Christ. With him before 
us we shall never think of keeping the ^ Bible out of the public 
schools. Let those who want no Bible there establish schools 
after their own pattern, and pay for them, and let the schools 
of the nation alone. 

THE COLLATION AND SUCCEEDING EXERCISES. 

With the conclusion of Dr. Duryea's Oration, the exercises 



of the day on the Campus were ended. The procession was 
thereupon re-formed, and proceeding to the grounds of Mayor 
Conover, on Bayard avenue, the Military and invited guests sat 
down to a collation, at tables capable of accommodating over 
one thousand persons, under the large tent of the New Jersey 
Agricultural Society, which had been procured for the purpose. 
About twelve hundred partook. Here Governor Bedle presided, 
assisted by Dr. Cameron and Hon. George O. Vanderbilt. 

After the removal of the cloth, a series of toasts were offered. 
The following are those toasts, together with an outline of the 
responses made : 

I. The United States. 

This was to have been responded to by President Grant. Not 
being able to be present, he sent the following letter which was 
read by Prof Cameron : 

Executive Mansion, Washington, June, 1876. 
Dear Sir : — The President directs me to acknowledge the 
receipt of your kind note of the 22d inst., and to express his sincere 
thanks for the invitation to attend the Centennial celebration in 
Princeton on the 27th inst. He desires nie to assure you that it 
would afford him great pleasure to accept this invitation so cordi- 
ally extended, but his engagements will not permit him to be 
absent from the Capital at that date. 

I am, very respectfully, yours, 

U. S. Grant, Jr., 

Private Secretary. 

After the reading of this letter. Prof. Cameron made the 
following remarks : 

President Grant is a man of deeds rather than of words. We 
rejoice that he, who in the hour of danger saved our country, 
is now its President. No man is perfect. But better a diamond 
with a flaw, than a perfect pebble. The men who led our country 
through its perils are now receding from our view. And to-day 
they remind us of a story of Ancient Greece. A statue was needed 
for a particular place. Two were produced. One was a thing of 
perfect beauty ; the other was rude of outline and even had faults. 
The first was accepted and placed on the pedestal. But when raised 
to its position its beauty and even its outline disappeared. It was 
removed and the second was set up. As it receded its rudeness 
disappeared and it stood forth in all its grandeur. Then there 



22 

was a shout of admiration for the second statue. And this is 
what we now see of the men of the past. Lincoln and Grant, 
prepared by the hand of God for their elevated positions, stand 
upon a platform but a little lower than that of Washington. 
Beside the Father of his country are, under God, its Saviour and 
its Defender. 

2. The State of New Jersey, 

To this. Governor Bedle responded, and most happily. It 
could not but be, he said, but that the State of New Jersey should 
be represented here to-day. The Legislature had ordered, at its 
last session, that some of the National Guard should be sent 
here to aid in this commemoration. It was fitting that, at this 
centre of learning, the place where so many of the men of the 
country of intelligence and patriotism were reared, should be 
this demonstration. It had been the home of Witherspoon, that 
man of piety, learning and patriotism. Here, in 1775, the 
Committee of Safety sat, and often afterwards. Here the 
first Legislature, under the first Constitution of the State, con- 
vened. Here the first Governor under this constitution was, by 
joint ballot of that Legislature, elected. Here, in 1783, driven 
hither by a riot, the Congress of the United States assembled. 
Here was one of the battles of the Revolution. It and that of 
Trenton, were pivots of that trying period. Washington was 
fleeing from New York. The time was a perilous one. Enlist- 
ments were running out. The people were growing weak. But 
here the Hessians were vanquished, and the British subdued. 
Here the tide of victory was turned. Cheer in the hearts of 
the Americans henceforth ensued. The foe was gathering 
detachments. But while they were at Trenton, Washington 
appeared at Princeton, routed them and saved both places. The 
State would have been derelict to its duty had it not aided in 
this celebration. The Constitution under which we lived until 
1844 was formed at that _. time. The exact date was July 2nd, 
1776. The President of this college helped to form it. The 
new Constitution of to day is no improvement over that old one. 
Not even that much better, said the Governor, snapping his 
finger and thumb, and bringing down his arm with an emphatic 
gesture. The Governors under the old Constitution were Living- 
ston, Patterson, Howell, Bloomfield, Ogden, W. S. Pennington, 
Mahlon Dickerson, Williamson, Vroom, Southard, Seeley, Phile- 



23 

mon Dickerson, William Pennington and Haines. Whether 
they were better or not than the Governors under the new Con- 
stitution, I will not say, since so many of the latter are around 
me now. But to conclude ; we must aim to derive some benefit 
from this celebration, else it will have been of no use to us. 
Let us learn then to discourage men who are hungry after office. 
It is a law, on the statute book to-day, that if a man will not 
accept the office to which he has been elected he shall be indicted. 
There has been no case lately, I believe, of indictment under 
this law. Men nowadays are too anxious for office. We want 
no skim-milk patriots such as these. But I must break off some- 
where. I thank you for your attention. 

3. The Legislature of New Jersey. 

Senator and President W. J. Sevvell first responded to this 
toast. He had had an experience of four years in the Legisla- 
ture. It had, he believed, reflected public sentiment — done all 
required of it by the people. If it was not as good as it might 
be, it was because of the people who elected them. 

Senator W. J. Magie followed. He returned thanks for the 
resolution ; spoke of the fitness of having this celebration ; was 
proud of New Jersey as one of the old thirteen, proud of its his- 
toric fields and heroic deeds, its legends and traditions. Here 
where is a great seat of learning, which was scarred and marked 
by the foe ; here where the Provincial Congress one hundred 
years ago to-day was sitting ; here where August 27, 1776, the 
Legislature of the State first met, of whom we are the successors, 
it is fitting we should be to-day. The part New Jersey took in 
bringing about the intimate, union of the States enjoyed by us 
to-day, the provison made in the constitution of the State, and 
continuing therein till 1844 for reconciliation with Great 
Britain, the adoption of that instrument, some possible marks of 
crudeness in it yet its political sagacity, were points the Senator 
dwelt upon, closing with expressions of strong hope for the cen- 
tury to come. 

Senator John Hill followed. He spoke of loyalty to country, 
of religion and of education, of their maintenance, of the evi- 
dences of these in Princeton, of the freedom we enjoy. He 
then alluded to our past history as a State, spoke of the first 
Governor as re-elected fourteen successive years, of p^i,ooo 
being required in the early times to make a man eligible to the 



24 

Senate, ^500 to the Assembly, ;^5o proclamation money to 
enjoy the right of suffrage. He rejoiced that to-day any man 
honest, capable and of good common sense, could enjoy these 
privileges. He spoke of a fine being imposed for intoxication, 
profane swearing, violating the Sabbath, and telling a lie, and 
wanted to know what would be manifest, if now these fines were 
imposed. He counselled the coming generation to "be honest 
and try to do right," spoke of the value of a good name, 
alluded to the fact that the soldiers of the Revolution often went 
without stockings; while after our late war, 2,500,000 over- 
coats were in possession of the government. He closed by say- 
ing, " live to do some good to somebody." 

4. Officers and Soldiers of the Revolutionary Army. 

This was responded to by Judge L. Q. C. Elmer. He repre- 
sented the Jersey line of officers. His father was the last of the 
officers of the Revolution. The Society of the Cincinnati now 
represented these. The general Society was founded on the 
Hudson, before the camp broke up. The Jersey Society was 
formed at Elizabeth, in 1783. One month's pay was contri- 
buted. This amounted to $8,000. The money is used for 
expenses and benevolence. They have a fund now of $16,000. 
Originally there were one hundred officers and twelve societies. 
Now there are only six, one in each of these States, Massachu- 
setts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and South 
Carolina. The order is hereditary. The general Society meets 
every third year. Hamilton Fish is President. The New Jer- 
sey Society meets on the Fourth of July. New Jersey had 
thirty-three members. There are only five sons of officers left. 
These are Messrs. Beattie, Halsey, Cumming, myself, and one 
other. There are twelve grandsons, five great-grandsons, two 
great-great-grandsons, four nephews, and four grand-nephews. 
The Jersey officers, at the beginning of the war, went north- 
ward, to Quebec. They were afterwards at Brandywine, Ger- 
mantown, Trenton and Monmouth. None were at Princeton. 
From these men the early Governors were drawn — Livingston, 
Patterson, Howell, Bloomfield, Pennington. The principles of 
the Society are an inviolable preservation of our rights and 
liberties, the promotion and cherishing of union and honor 
between the States, and affection between officers. 



25 

5- The Constitution ok '76. 

This was responded to by ex-Governor Daniel Haines. He 
was the last Governor under it. The toast and these scenes, 
said he, arouse my feelings. The old constitution was a good 
one. Good people formed it. It had some peculiarities, as 
noted by Senator Hill ; but the people gave them a liberal 
interpretation. He closed by alluding to the amendment, 
which he had secured, that the Chancellorship should be sepa- 
rate from the office of Governor. 

6. The Battle of Monmouth. 

To this toast, Ex-Governor Joel Parker made response. He 
would, he said, confine himself to the toast. The battle of 
Trenton was the turning point of the Revolution, that of Prince- 
ton, succeeding it, gave encouragement to the army. But these 
battles were only the beginning of the end. The battle of 
Monmouth, June 28th, 1778, gave the more decisive blow. 
There were more troops in it than in any other battle of the 
Revolution. We had 20,000. In 1777-8, Washington had 
been at Valley Forge, without food or clothing for his army. 
The enemy was living in luxury in Philadelphia. May 8th, '78, 
news arrived that France had acknowledged our independence, 
and signed a treaty of amity and was about to send out a fleet 
to blockade the Delaware, and capture Lord Howe. On the 
1 8th of June, the British evacuated Philadelphia, passed over to 
Gloucester point, and made their way to Haddonfield and 
Mount Holly. Then they divided into two bands, under Corn- 
wallis and Nepauson, and were making their way to their ships 
at Sandy Hook. At Englishtown, Washington determined to 
attack them ; though his generals had advised against it. Lee, 
an Englishman by birth, was appointed to attack their rear. He 
was repulsed but did not immediately inform Washington. 
Then Washington displayed his unparalleled generalship. He 
stopped the retreat, reformed the army, repulsed the British and 
achieved a victory. The British decamped at midnight, taking ad- 
vantage, as they alleged to the home government, of the moonlight ; 
though the moon that night set at loo'clock. Trumbull in his Mc- 
Fingal has immortalized this in a piece which Governor Parker 
read. In this battle, Molly Pitcher seized the ramrod of her 
fallen husband, and took his place. Women were forward in 



26 

the contest. Lafayette the youngest major general in history, 
being only 20 years of age, was there. Lee had said to him, 
when he wanted to fight — "You can do nothing with these 
British." To which Lafayette replied. "We have whipped 
them once and can do it again." Nathaniel Greene, the quaker 
general, and Wayne, the hero of Stony Point, and Morgan, hero 
of Cowpens, a Jerseyman and noted rifleman, were there. But 
what do we see now? We see England at our great Exposition. 
She has made it international. For it is hardly likely that the 
other nations would have come here had not she taken the lead. 
This is an era of peace. The World, and the North and the 
South of our own country, after the late devastating war, are 
to-day meeting together in amity. 

7. The College of New Jersey. 

Rev. Dr. James McCosh responded. With pride, they had, that 
day, lent them the college grounds. You have seen what now is. 
One hundred years ago how different ! Soldiers in war were 
here then. In the library was a painting by Peale of Washing- 
ton, the finest in existence, which had been placed in the frame 
in which George Up was hung, whose picture had, in the battle 
of Princeton, been pierced with a bullet. A little shower com- 
ing up, as now, frightened men, but those were days of valorous 
men. The students of Princeton took part in the Revolution. 
They were so eager, that Witherspoon had to restrain them. 
Princeton is a good place where to receive an education ; for 
the spirit of '76 is here. He closed by alluding to the Puritans 
of New England as having achieved our liberties ; and New 
Jersey, and North Carolina, as having through Witherspoon and 
the covenanting spirit, organized the government. 

8. The New Jersey Historical Society. 

Rev. Dr. S. M. Hamill, its President, responded. Thirty-one 
years ago, he said, this society was founded in the City Hall of 
Trenton. He alluded to the noted men who had sustained it, 
and to the mass of historic matter which they had now gathered 
in Newark. A fire proof building, he said, was much needed, 
and he hoped some man of wealth would be forthcoming to give 
them one. 

9. The National Guard of New Jersey. 

General J. Augustus Fay responded. He returned thanks in 



27 

behalf of the Guard for having been remembered. This Guard, 
he said, spoke for themselves to-day. They had met on the 
province line, a regiment from East Jersey and one from West. 
They had been glad to participate in these ceremonies. He was 
glad to find that ex-speaker Vanderbilt had, to-day, recognized 
the National Guard as a good organization. They were a com- 
pany of volunteers, affording a rallying point, in times of danger. 
He closed by returning thanks to the government and the people, 
who had taken in them so much interest. 

lo. Princeton and its Battle-Field. 

This was responded to by Hon. J F. Hageman. It was now 
late in the afternoon when a shower threatened, and the time for 
the military parade had arrived, and people, by reason of a long 
protracted sitting, were disposed to leave. Mr. Hageman there- 
fore felt obliged to cut short his remarks, which ought to have 
been prominent in the proceedings of the day and delivered per- 
haps at an earlier hour. The following is the substance of Mr. 
Hageman's speech : 

He alluded to the central position of Princeton in the State. 
Lying in Somerset and Middlesex counties, with Burlington 
and Hunterdon coming quite near it, it was a local point of 
conference among the leading men of those counties a century 
ago. 

Princeton was influential before the Revolution, by reason of 
the College established here. Such an institution would give 
celebrity to any country town. When the war broke out, this 
College, like all other colleges, was found espousing the cause of 
liberty. But not only the College, with its noble President, Dr. 
Witherspoon, gave earnest support to the Revolution in Prince- 
ton. There was a cluster of distinguished men resident in 
Princeton at and before the Revolution, whose names should not 
be forgotten on this grand occasion ; u hose services were linked 
with the heroic history of that period. They were such men as 
Richard Stockton, Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, Jonathan Bald- 
win, Enos Kelsey, Dr. Bainbridge, Dr. Beatty, Mr. Churchill 
Houston, James Witherspoon, son of the President — all gradu- 
ates of Nassau Hall ; and intimately associated with these men, 
Frederick Frelinghuysen and William Paterson, also graduates,^ 
who lived in Somerset, and mingled with Princeton men. 



28 

There were others who distinguished themselves by services in 
council or in war, namely Robert Stockton, Jonathan Sergeant, 
the elder, Jonathan Dean, Captain Longstreet, Captain Moore, 
Major Morford, John Johnson and others. 

The trio of pre-eminent patriots in Princeton at that period, 
were Dr. Witherspoon, Richard Stockton and Jonathan Dickin- 
son Sergeant. The first two were officers in the same College 
and members of the same Church, and both became signers of the 
Declaration, which alone would make Princeton immortal in 
history. Witherspoon is receiving his full share of honor, 
though nothing should be taken from it. But the names of 
Stockton and Sergeant should be held up to-day, to signal 
honor. They were both lawyers in Princeton, at the head of 
the bar in the State ; pure, noble, elegant ; of large property, 
fine culture, and heroic Christians, of the Presbyterian School. 
Mr. Sergeant was a grandson of Jonathan Dickinson the first 
President of the College. 

Mr. Hageman exhibited the incipient steps in the Revolu- 
tion — the large and controlling representation of Princeton men 
in the first conventions and Provincial Congress of New Jersey, 
and in the Continental Congress. He referred to the zeal and 
concurrent votes of Sergeant, Kelsey, Witherspoon, Freling- 
huysen and Paterson — on the most vital questions. 

Mr. Sergeant resigned his place in the Continental Congress, 
in June, '76, that he might work up a State Constitution; he 
was on the committee for the purpose, and held the laboring 
oar, on that, as on all committees to which he was appointed. 

Mr. Hageman protested strongly against the unjust asper- 
sions, insinuated by both of the Gordons in their histories, 
against Mr. Sergeant, William Livingston, and others, who 
resigned their seats in Congress in '76, when Witherspoon, 
Stockton, Hopkins and others were appointed in their places. 
Mr. Sergeant showed more courage in voting for carrying New 
Jersey into an independent government, before it was known 
that other colonies would unite in the movement, than he could 
have shown by voting for Independence in the General Con- 
gress. And Mr. Livingston never knew what fear was. 

Mr. Hageman closed with an enumeration of the marked 
Revolutionary events which were connected with Princeton. 



29 

CONCLUSION. 

Our citizens generally made a very large and costly display of 
bunting, and in the evening there was an extensive and tasteful 
illumination. At sunset the bells were again rung, and a salute 
of thirty-seven guns was fired. Nothing occurred to mar the 
festivities of the occasion. The whole affair was creditable to 
the State authorities, our ancient town, the committees, the 
military, and all engaged in making arrangements, and in their 
consummation. We now look back to it with pleasure, and feel 
no shame in transmitting its record to the generations to come. 
Not less than from six thousand to eight thousand persons took 
part. The day was rounded up with a sense of duty performed, 
and an increased fervor of patriotism. It was worth all, and 
more, than it cost. 



Celebration of Jan. 3D, 1877. 



There were many that thought, from the beginning, that the 
Battle of Princeton ought specially to be commemorated on its 
one hundredth anniversary. Accordingly as the 3d of January, 
1877, approached, arrangements were made for a supplementary 
Celebration. 

The Committee of Thirteen, who had organized and con- 
ducted the chief Celebration in June, initiated the second by 
calling a public metting, at which a new Committee of Thirteen 
was appointed. These consisted of 

Hon. Geo. O. Vanderbilt, T. A. Seger, 

V. Arnheiter, J. F. Hageman, Jr., 

J. F. Duffield, J. W. Wright, 

A. L. Green, W. C. Vandewater, 

J. J. Stryker, R. H. Rose, 

Joseph S. Schanck, J. L. Briner. 
W. G. McCloskey. 

This Committee performed a great amount of labor in corres- 
pondence, raising of funds, and arranging the details of exercises 
for the proposed Celebration. 

The day, when it arrived, was chiefly one of military display. 
A sham fight was executed. This was as near as possible on the 
site, and after the plan, of the original battle, 

Princeton furnished for the fight three companies, of forty- 
five men each. One of these was the uniformed Washing- 
ton Continental Guards, Captain A. L. Green. The other two 
were ununiformed, with J. Leggett and J. H. Margerum as 
Captains. 

Eight companies were here from abroad : Companies C, D, 
E and H, of the First New Jersey National Guard, from 
Newark, Colonel William Allen ; Company C, Elizabeth 
Phil. Kearny Guard, Captain W. H, De Hart, carrying Phil. 
Kearny's old tattered battle flag ; Companies B and G, Cap- 



31 

tains Youmans and Wilkes, of the Seventh New Jersey National 
Guard, from Trenton, and Company B, of the First Pennsylva- 
nia Regiment, from Philadelphia, Captain T. J. Dunn. These 
combined numbered some 250, making, with our Princeton 
men, about 400 troops. Those from Newark and Trenton had 
been here at the Summer Celebration. 

The three Princeton companies, the Elizabeth and the Phila- 
delphia companies personated the Americans in the fight. The 
remaining companies, — the four Newark and the two Trenton, 
personated the British. Colonel William Allen represented the 
British commander. Colonel Mawhood. General J. M. Drake, 
from Elizabeth, represented General Washington, and Colonel 
W. C. Vandewater, General Mercer. 

The staff officers of General Washington were : 

J. F. Hageman, Jr., Colonel and Chief. 

W. C. Vandewater, Colonel and Com. of Sub. 

A. F. Allen, Major and Chief of Ordnance. 

J. Lyons, Lieutenant Colonel and Chief of Artillery. 

A. M. Gumming, Colonel and Quartermaster-General. 

The day was fine, but intensely cold. A few hours previous 
to the entertainment, snow had fallen to the depth of fifteen 
inches on the level. This interfered somewhat with the move- 
ments, and especially with the comfort, of the combatants. 

The fighting ranged from the old battle field to the college 
grounds. It was admirably kept up, all performing well the 
parts assigned them. At the close, a heavy fire was maintained 
for some minutes, when suddenly the British broke in disorder, 
and Colonel William Allen, who personated Colonel Mawhood, 
surrendered his sword to Colonel J. F. Hageman, Jr., Chief of 
the Staff of General Washington. 

The American bands then played Yankee Doodle, and the 
British reversed their arms. 

Afterwards, the soldiers of both sides joined in a parade, and 
marched to the University Hotel where, for those from abroad 
and their officers, a substantial and even elegant entertainment 
was provided. 

Never had there been so fine an affair of the kind in Princeton. 
It was interesting and instructive. The arrangements and exhi- 
bition could scarcely have been improved upon. It gave uni- 



32 

versal satisfaction. The great papers of New York, and the 
papers of Newark, Elizabeth and Trenton, were represented by 
their reporters, and in their next issues gave only the most 
flattering accounts. 

Music enlivened the air during the engagement. Large num- 
bers of persons were present from the country and abroad who, 
with the townspeople, lined the main street and the whole 
course of the fight. Even the dignitaries of Princeton were 
out, grave Professors, and Doctors of Divinity, being seen 
wherever the soldiers and the people were. The whole cost to 
our citizens in money was about $350, which was raised by vol- 
untary contributions. 

PROFESSOR Cameron's historical address. 

As a fitting sequel to the fight, Dr. Cameron delivered in the 
afternoon in the College Chapel an Historical Address on the 
original battle. With a brief outline of it we close these sketches. 

Washington, the Doctor said, had been compelled to retreat 
across the Jerseys, and take refuge beyond the Delaware. This 
retreat had been admirably conducted ; still the moral effect was 
unfortunate. Dissatisfaction with Washington arose in high 
quarters. Many, especially in New Jersey, seemed ready to sub- 
mit to the mother country. A free pardon was promised by 
Lord Howe to all who within sixty days should return to their 
allegiance. Many in the extremes of society did submit. Only 
the middle class remained faithful. The day was dark. 

Cornwallis, in pursuit of Washington, reached the Delaware 
at Trenton, just as the rear guard of the American army were 
safely over, and all boats had been removed. He stationed his 
troops along the river and towards New York, and returned 
himself to the city. The impression was that the rebellion 
was virtually crushed. 

On Christmas night however, Washington re-crossed the Dela- 
ware in a storm of hail and snow, and amid floating ice, and 
took back from Trenton to the Pennsylvania shore a number of 
Hessians, whom he sent to Virginia. 

With his troops he then rested for a day or two. The term 
of service of the soldiers was expiring ; but by personal influ- 
ence and a bounty, he induced them to remain longer. 



33 

Cornwallis was now sent back again from New York to encoun- 
ter Washington. The American army consisted of about 5,000 
men, principally Pennsylvania militiamen, together with a troop 
of 22 Philadelphia cavalrymen. They had 40 cannon. The 
British army numbered nearly 8000, sustained by a force in the 
rear of several tliousand more. The outposts of each army met 
at Maidenhead, now called Lawrenceville, and the Americans 
allowed themselves to be driven slowly back to Trenton, where 
they took refuge across the Assanpink. It was near sunset. 
Had Cornwallis pressed on he might perhaps have defeated 
Washington. But he declined, saying "he had the old fox just 
where he wanted him and would catch him in the morning." 

Washington now called a council of war, and it was decided 
to march on Princeton during the night, attack the detach- 
ment, and then proceeding to New Brunswick seize the stores 
there. A sudden freezing of the roads helped their march. 
By fires and noises the enemy were led to think that the 
American army was still in camp. But they, taking the 
lower road through Sandtown, outgeneraled Cornwallis, and 
avoiding General Leslie at Lawrenceville, reached Stony Brook, 
two miles from Princeton, about sunrise. Here, near the Qua- 
ker meeting house, Washington drew up his columns, sent a 
detachment of 350 men to destroy the bridge at Worth (now 
Bruere's Mill), and took himself a by-road, to the right, for 
Princeton. 

The force under Mercer consisted of Maryland, Virginia and 
Delaware troops. Three British regiments, the 17th, 40th and 
55th, and three troops of dragoons, who had passed the night 
in Princeton, were about leaving. The 17th had already crossed 
Worth's bridge, but discovering the enemy on the opposite side 
re-crossed. Each party was surprised. Both endeavoured to 
obtain the high ground in the neighborhood of the house built 
in late years by Mr. J, W. Fielder. The Americans were first, 
and delivered the first volley from behind a worm fence, at a 
distance of forty paces. The British replied, and then charged. 
Before the bayonet Mercer's men fled. The General dismounted 
from his wounded horse, and endeavoured to rally them. But 
he was attacked, and refusing to surrender, was bayoneted, and 
left for dead. Washington, on hearing the firing, sent reinforce- 
ments. This stopped the flight, and arrested the march of the 

3 



34 

British. But the British artillery caused the militiamen to 
waver again. Washington just at this time appeared, advanced 
to the front, and rallied them. Moulder's Battery, stationed 
near Thomas Clark's (now Mr. Henry Hale's) house, galled the 
enemy with grape shot. Washington, reckless of danger, 
exposed himself to the fire of both parties. Colonel Fitzgerald, 
his aid, expected his fall, and drew his hat over his eyes, that he 
might not witness it. But he escaped with victory. Rhode 
Island, Virginia and other Continental troops now came up, 
and Colonel Mawhood, with his 17th, abandoned the field, 
leaving their artillery. Some of his men escaped by Maiden- 
head and Pennington, and others were taken prisoners by Cap- 
tain Hand's riflemen and the Philadelphia cavalry. Washing- 
ton compared the pursuit to a fine fox chase, and joined in it 
personally. 

On their return, led by General St. Clair, they encountered 
the 55th British in the ravine on the late Mr. Richard Stock- 
ton's farm, called Springdale, near Canal street. These too, 
after a sharp resistance, were defeated and fled down Wither- 
spoon street, and over the road towards New Brunswick. The 
40th liad taken no part in the fight. Some of them fled. The 
remainder and others took refuge in Nassau Hall, where they 
surrendered to Captain Moore, a young man of 25, of the 
Princeton Militia, after one or two balls had been fired at the 
building. All this took place January 3d, 1777, and formed an 
epoch in the Revolution — turned the tide of war, and established 
the reputation of Washington. 

The British lost in this battle about 100 killed, and 300 in pris- 
oners and wounded. The Americans lost only 30 — but a greater 
number of officers were killed in this than in any other battle of 
the war. Washington pressed on in pursuit of the enemy. His 
troops, however, were worn out. The attack on the stores at 
New Brunswick was abandoned therefore, and the American 
army filed off" by Rocky Hill to Somerset C. H. 

Cornwallis, on discovering that Washington had left Trenton, 
hastened to pursue him. He reached Princeton just as the rear 
of the American army had left, finding the bridge at Worth's 
Mill, and also at Kingston, destroyed. By a feint of the 
Americans who occupied some breast works near the late Dr. 
Miller's, now Mrs. S. Brown's house, the British were detained 
at Princeton an hour. Cornwallis finally reached New Bruns- 



35 

wick where he found his stores safe but that Washington had 
again eluded his grasp. The American army now took up 
winter quarters in Morristown and compelled the British to 
remain in New York. 

Adjutant General Joseph Reed, a native of Trenton, a grad- 
uate of Nassau Hall, and a student of law under Mr. Richard 
Stockton, signer of the Declaration of Independence, probably 
acted as guide of the army. His allegiance to Washington is 
said to have been afterwards somewhat shakeu ; but that he 
accepted British protection has been disproved through some 
discovered manuscripts by General William S. Stryker, of Tren- 
ton, an Alumnus of Princeton. He was probably confounded 
with a Colonel Charles Read, of Burlington county. Mr. Ban- 
croft has acknowledged this. 

General Mercer was found on the field, insensible, and con- 
veyed to Mr. Thomas Clark's house. Washington hearing that 
he was yet alive sent, under a flag of truce, his nephew Major 
George Lewis, froi^i Morristown, to remain with him. He was 
attended by the famous Dr. Benjamin Rush, a graduate of Nas- 
sau Hall, and son-in law of Mr. Richard Stockton. He was 
carefully nursed by Misses Hannah and Sarah Clark of the 
Society of Friends, assisted by Samuel Worth, Thomas Olden, a 
colored woman and other neighbors. He died on the 12th, in 
the arms of Major Lewis, and was buried in Philadelphia on the 
14th. His remains now repose in Laurel Hill Cemetery. He 
was a Scotchman by birth, and a physician of eminence in Fred- 
ericksburg, Va. To the House of Burgesses of Virginia, he 
offered his services in the following words : " Hugh Mercer will 
serve his adopted country and the cause of liberty in any rank 
or station to which he may be appointed." Thirty-six hours 
before the battle, he had said, his aim was the success of the 
cause, and he would cheerfully lay down his life to secure it. 

Of what Washington and his little army achieved between 
Dec. 25th and Jan. 4th, Frederic the Great, who sent his sword 
to Washington, " as from the oldest General in the world to the 
greatest," said "they were the most brilliant in military annals." 
"^No man who opposed or traduced Washington seems ever to 
have finally prospered. His noble qualities ever grew brighter, 
until the American Fabius became the deliverer and the Father 
of his Country : ^First in War, First in Peace and First in 
THE Hearts ok his Countrymen." 



